For 5000 pounds and heading into mountains, yes, use the tow/haul switch. It modifies your shift points and disables the torque converter lockup to keep from cooking your transmission. Take it easy and provide plenty of time for braking, since I'm assuming you do not have trailer brakes.

For 5000 pounds and heading into mountains, yes, use the tow/haul switch. It modifies your shift points and disables the torque converter lockup to keep from cooking your transmission. Take it easy and provide plenty of time for braking, since I'm assuming you do not have trailer brakes.

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thanks. i know when i hit ga i will hit some valleys so ill make sure to hit it. so just use it on big hills and not the whole way right. and no i dont have a trailer brake on this truck yet. trailer has it but i dont have the controller which sucks. its my bike trailer with all my house hold stuff in it and the bike is on the back of the truck now.

Definitely use it the whole way. If the trailer were light, <1500 pounds or so, I'd say use it until you get on the interstate and give turning it off a shot and check rpms, but for 5000 pounds, it needs to be on or you will cook the transmission.

you may want to look into a break module for your trailer breaks, if they trailer is already equipped it should cost less then 100 for a decent module. the truck may be prewired also. I know on my old 2005 silverado it came prewired with a harness for the module. It would save your truck breaks some wear and tear.

I don't have anything to add on the towing question that hasn't already been said, but a tip about Stewart and Hinesville. Be careful off post, the local fuzz can be ..... a PITA to put it mildly. Buy alot of bugspray also. LOL. Good luck and have a safe journey.

Oh and try to plan your trip so you hit Atlanta between 1pm and 3pm or after 8pm. It'll make life so much easier. Also go straight through Atlanta, stay off 285. Everyone thinks it will be the fastest way so in turn it has more traffic.

Use tow/haul the entire way, another thing it DOES do (verified this with my GM tech 2) is it increases your timing and actually gives your truck more power for pulling, also as it has been mentioned, it saves your transmission although I think it actually LOCKS your torque converter in according to some GM master techs I know. I would also allow your truck to cool down from time to time, every few hrs. This means let it run and leave it in neutral, cool down time is about three hrs, if you just stop and shut your truck off, that's HORRIBLE on a transmission, unfortunately most people do indeed just shut their truck off thinking they are doing it a favor.

I have a 2004 half-ton and I tow a pretty damn big boat all over the state of Alaska, through the mountains, in the valleys, on ****ty roads, our temps in the summer when I'm towing the most are about 95 degrees so we get hot enough to torch a transmission that is being abused.